Dow plunges 1,200 points as global markets sink over Trump trade war fears

Wall Street's main indexes fell back into the red in choppy trade on Monday after CNBC reported White House officials were not aware of US President Donald Trump considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China.

The White House denial came after stocks rose on a CNBC report about Trump considering a tariff pause.

At 10:39 am the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 996.97 points, or 2.60 per cent, to 37,317.89, the S&P 500 lost 115.21 points, or 2.27 per cent, to 4,958.87, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 320.20 points, or 2.06 per cent, to 15,266.70.

The S&P 500 was down 3.8 per cent in early trading Monday, coming off its worst week since Covid began crashing the global economy in March 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,200 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 4 per cent lower.

Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2 per cent for their worst day since 1997.

A barrel of benchmark US crude oil briefly dropped below $60 for the first time since 2021.

Meanwhile, Japan's blue-chip Nikkei slid almost 8 per cent, European shares were down 6 per cent, US Treasury yields fell and the VIX stocks volatility gauge jumped to its highest since August.